Heads-up displays (or “HUDs”) have been in use at least since the 1960s, predominantly in military vehicle applications. HUDs of that nature generally create a read-out of vehicle and navigation-related information on or near a semi-transparent canopy and within in a pilot's natural line of site for observing the environment surrounding the vehicle that he or she is controlling. Often, such HUDs operate by reflecting light off of semi-transparent surfaces and into the pilot's field of vision by an information read-out projector.
Various forms of 3-dimensional (“3-D”) displays have been introduced over the last century, including stereoscopic displays, which create a different perspective image for each of a user's eyes. In some embodiments, such displays incorporate a pair of glasses mounted on a user's head, to filter or otherwise introduce different light for each of a user's eyes.
Structural stabilizing devices have also been used in conjunction with camera systems for years, and include rolling dollies and the steady-cam, developed by Garrett Brown. Such stabilizing devices create a smooth-follow effect when recording visual information with a camera that is moving over uneven terrain or while in the hands of a vertically oscillating operator—e.g., a person walking—by the use of iso-elastic spring-loaded arms.
It should be understood that the disclosures in this application related to the background of the invention in, but not limited to, this section (titled “Background”) are to aid readers in comprehending the invention, and are not necessarily prior art or other publicly known aspects affecting the application; instead the disclosures in this application related to the background of the invention may comprise details of the inventor's own discoveries, work and work results, including aspects of the present invention. Nothing in the disclosures related to the background of the invention is or should be construed as an admission related to prior art or the work of others prior to the conception or reduction to practice of the present invention.